Imaginary Museum: Poems on Art by Joseph Stanton

The extremity of her sensitivity
impressed a richly idle princely family,
who could not see they missed the real pea
of her discomfort, bothered as she had to be

by the absurd softness of the ample beddings,
not to mention the pillow piles aggravating
her much lamented acrophobic dis-ease.
As years passed by, she taught her king

how a board under the mattress aids the spine
and keeps it straight and ready for laughter.
Under her guidance, both wise and refined,
the kingdom prospered, happily ever after.


— The Princess and the Pea
by Joseph Stanton